MTMD
To support transportation planning and mobility modeling across Québec, the ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (MTMD) mandated the development of large-scale origin-destination (O-D) matrices using anonymized floating car data (FCD) .
Through a collaboration between Orange Traffic’s Innovation Mi8 division and SMATS Traffic Solutions, the project leveraged a cloud-based analytics platforms and advanced processing methodologies to produce detailed vehicular movement patterns across four major Québec regions using FCD:
- Montréal
- Québec
- Sherbrooke
- Trois-Rivières
The initiative demonstrated how FCD can complement and modernize conventional transportation modeling approaches while providing broader network visibility, improved scalability and enhanced operational intelligence.
The Challenge
Traditional origin-destination surveys remain essential for transportation modeling, but they present several limitations:
- Limited visibility on peripheral and transit movements
- Reduced understanding of commercial vehicle patterns
- High operational complexity and cost
- Limited scalability for continuous monitoring
The MTMD sought a more comprehensive and data-driven approach capable of capturing:
- Internal and external trip patterns
- Regional and interregional vehicular flows
- Commercial vehicle movements
- Hourly origin-destination demand across large territories
In addition, the solution needed to support transportation modeling efforts for future infrastructure and mobility planning initiatives.
The Solution
The solution combined:
- SMATS’ iNode mobility analytics platform
- TomTom agregated FCD for passenger vehicles
- Geotab / Altitude FCD for commercial vehicles
- Advanced map-matching and trip reconstruction methodologies
Across the four territories, hundreds of internal zones and peripheral gateways were analyzed to reconstruct large-scale mobility patterns. The solution enabled the production of detailed O-D matrices by:
- Region
- Hour of day
- Vehicle category
- Origin and destination zone
Technology & Methodology
The solution relied on anonymized mobility datasets collected from:
- Connected vehicles
- GPS systems
- Mobile applications
- Commercial fleet telematics
SMATS’ iNode platform processed passenger vehicle mobility data while Geotab Altitude supported truck movement analytics.
Key analytical processes included:
- GPS trace processing
- Map-matching to the road network
- Trip segmentation
- Origin-destination pairing
- Vehicle classification
- Statistical validation
The methodology enabled the creation of:
- 24-hour O-D matrices
- Passenger vehicle matrices
- Truck movement matrices
- Regional flow analysis
- Peripheral gateway movement analysis
Key Benefits
Province-Scale Mobility Visibility
The project provided a macro-level understanding of vehicular flows across four major Québec regions.
Enhanced Transportation Modeling
The generated O-D matrices complemented conventional household surveys and improved transportation simulation capabilities.
Commercial Vehicle Intelligence
Unlike traditional surveys, the methodology incorporated truck movement analytics using commercial fleet data.
Scalable & Cost-Efficient Data Collection
The use of FCD reduced the need for extensive physical field data collection infrastructure.
Continuous & Flexible Analytics
The platform-based approach enables repeatable and scalable mobility analysis for future transportation initiatives.
Results
The project successfully delivered:
- Origin-destination matrices for four Québec urban regions
- Passenger vehicle and truck movement analytics
- Hourly traffic flow intelligence
- Peripheral gateway movement analysis
- Large-scale mobility pattern visibility for transportation planning
The initiative also demonstrated the operational viability of mobility big data as a complementary tool for transportation modeling and infrastructure planning.
Strategic Impact
This project highlights how intelligent mobility analytics can support transportation agencies in:
- Modernizing transportation planning
- Improving infrastructure decision-making
- Better understanding regional mobility behavior
- Enhancing long-term transportation simulation models
- Supporting data-driven mobility strategies
Through its collaboration with SMATS, Orange Traffic continues to expand its expertise in intelligent transportation systems, mobility analytics and real-time transportation intelligence solutions.
Partners
Orange Traffic / Innovation Mi8
Turnkey intelligent transportation and mobility analytics solutions provider specializing in real-time traffic intelligence, monitoring and transportation innovation.
SMATS Traffic Solutions
Advanced mobility analytics provider specializing in probe vehicle data processing, transportation intelligence and cloud-based traffic analytics platforms.
